Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 25.djvu/349

 EARLY DAYS ON THE WILLAMETTE 307 arrived at Fort George November 18, 1813. His cousin, William Henry, was already in charge of the post on the Willamette on this date. Up until this time we have had no inkling of the lo- cation of this Willamette post, with the exception of the statement of Franchere that it was about 150 miles above the mouth of the Willamette. There cannot be the slight- est doubt but that he meant "Columbia" instead of "Wil- lamette," as we shall show later from the account which Henry gives of his trip up the river on a visit to this post. Two days after Alexander Henry's arrival at Fort George, a canoe arrived from the Willamette post with letters and seven elk, and on the following day a re- inforcement of ten men led by William Wallace set out for that place. From the time this post had been founded by Wallace and Halsey late in 1812 or early in 1813 it had furnished a large portion of the fresh meat and dried meat for the party at Fort George. At intervals canoes arrived from the Willamette with deer, elk, goat, bear, and wild fowl. On January 22, 1814, Alexander Henry set out for the Willamette post, and from him we get a very good description of its location and of his trip. It may possibly be best to let him tell his own story. "On January 22, 1814, I set out with Wm. Matthews and eight men, At four o'clock ran our canoe on a rock and tore a piece out of her bottom. * * * The channel then contracted, being bound in by high rocks and we had trouble in ascending some strong rapids. 17 It was dark before we saw the village on the S., near a small but rapid river on our left, called the Clukemus. 18 Shortly after passing this river we came abreast of this village, in hearing of the falls, 19 and saw six lights, which we supposed issued r These are now called the Clackamas rapids. s The Clackamas River. i Willamette Falls. is
 * * * started up the Willamette.